Nader pines for Bloomberg, Hightower, others

Ralph Nader hopes Mike Bloomberg runs for president in 2012 as a third-party candidate, he told POLITICO.

In a video interview, Nader said Bloomberg’s money would make it possible for him to take a stand against the two-party system: “He could write a check for $500 million and spend all his time connecting with mayors and going all over the country. And it would definitely be a three-way race.”

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Nader also listed a few other, less plausible options for an independent presidential campaign, including environmentalist author Bill McKibben and the former Texas agriculture commissioner Rick Perry defeated in his first run for statewide office.

“I’d like to see Bloomberg run. I’d like to see Jim Hightower run. I’d like to see Bill McKibben run. I’d like to see the champion of single-payer health care, Dr. Quentin Young, run,” Nader said.

Here’s the full interview:

Whatever you think of Nader and Bloomberg, there’s some level of tension in an activist who has railed against the influence of money in politics, calling for a billionaire (who routinely defends the financial services industry) to use his personal fortune as a weapon against a broken democratic process.